azurelunatic: Vivid pink Alaskan wild rose. (Default)
Azure Jane Lunatic (Azz) 🌺 ([personal profile] azurelunatic) wrote2012-06-21 09:31 pm

What is this even I just can't.

Sometime between when I got out of work yesterday evening and when I got out of my early meeting this morning at work (I did not pass go, and went straight to the meeting, yay traffic), someone left a note on my cubicle's whiteboard.

It was written in pretty basic black pen on a pretty basic pale yellow post-it note, with firm but crappy printing and much worse spelling, and complimented my appearance "today", by which I assume they meant yesterday, because I basically saw or spoke to no one but the members of my team until we all dispersed together after the meeting.

"U were Loking Perrty Today."

My Overlady saw it, found it unusual (but not any more so than any number of the random things in my life that are inexplicable until I attempt to explain them), and figured that there must be some context for it, and it was surely hilarious in that context.

There was no context that I can tell. It just appeared. I have no idea who put it there, or why, other than the apparent fact that they (likely he) thought I looked pretty yesterday.

In theory, I ought to be flattered. Someone thought I looked pretty and went to the trouble to tell me so. In actual practice, I don't know who left it there, and absent that context, I don't know whether it's safe to feel complimented, or whether this is the first wave of a longer campaign that is going to be at minimum weird and uncomfortable. I don't know if I know this person. I don't know if I like this person. I don't know whether it was meant in the friendly, sincere, and innocent way that my Overlady might say "Nice shoes!" to a co-worker upon seeing a pair of really sweet shoes, or in the friendly, sincere, and filthy way that I might say "Nice shoes!" at Pride. If it's the prelude to something I'd decline, I have no idea how that person takes their "no" when it's served to them.

And it's such a weird way of contextless contact! My name is on my cube. Given my name and my cube number, anyone with a valid login can look up my email address. An email has context, and leaves records. An email gives me enough information that I can see their location (are they a neighbor? do they work with a neighbor?) and maybe their picture (oh right, that person and I often pass each other in the kitchen?) or -- or *something*. Sure, people leave each other sticky notes -- passing notes in a meeting, there's your context. On a stack of papers saying what to do with them, there's your context. WE HAVE NO CONTEXT HERE.

ALSO NO SPELL CHECK.

Upon advice from [personal profile] zarhooie, who reminded me that if I was evaluating it for threat level, just that alone warranted caution, I filed a ticket with HR, saying that while it was probably well-meant as an isolated incident, it was still totally unexpected, and I wanted to document it in case it was not an isolated incident. I'll be chatting with HR at some point tomorrow.
amberfox: picture from the Order of Hermes tradition book for Mage: The Awakening, subgroup House Shaea (Default)

[personal profile] amberfox 2012-06-22 05:35 am (UTC)(link)
I firmly endorse this plan. Workplace stalkage, even the friendly kind? Seriously EW.
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)

Well...

[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith 2012-06-22 07:15 am (UTC)(link)
It's the kind of thing done by someone with low social skills. That lack often includes a poor grasp of boundaries. So yes, that's a yellow caution flag.
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)

Re: Well...

[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith 2012-06-28 04:59 am (UTC)(link)
Not good. Maybe leave a note along the lines of, "If you're trying to be nice, this is not the way, please stop. If you're trying to be intimidating, HR has been informed of these incidents."
pauamma: Cartooney crab wearing hot pink and acid green facemask holding drink with straw (Default)

[personal profile] pauamma 2012-06-22 02:42 pm (UTC)(link)
"Once is happenstance. twice is coincidence, thrice is enemy operation." So yes, counting and reporting occurences is good, even if it turns out to be harmless.
silveradept: A kodama with a trombone. The trombone is playing music, even though it is held in a rest position (Default)

[personal profile] silveradept 2012-06-22 08:47 pm (UTC)(link)
That's the best way I've heard that described. To whom do we owe such a tactically sound quote?
pauamma: Cartooney crab wearing hot pink and acid green facemask holding drink with straw (Default)

[personal profile] pauamma 2012-06-22 09:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Goldfinger, apparently.
cleverthylacine: a cute little thylacine (Default)

[personal profile] cleverthylacine 2012-06-22 05:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah no, that's not funny.
silveradept: A kodama with a trombone. The trombone is playing music, even though it is held in a rest position (Default)

[personal profile] silveradept 2012-06-22 08:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Getting HR involved definitely sounds like a good idea. They may already have a file on your note leaver.